Disingenuous: An Open Letter to the Friedemans, Jared Henry, and the Holiness Partnership
(This essay was first posted in June of 2023 on lovingnazarenes.com.) Disingenuous That’s the most charitable word to describe your actions in recent days. Disingenuous. The actions to which I am referring are characterized by quotes like the following: In your (Caleb’s) review of Why the Church of […]
Why the Church of the Nazarene Should be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming
My daughter Alexa and I co-edited a collection of essays with the title, Why the Church of the Nazarene Should be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming. The writers of the essays are current or former members of the denomination. And their writing is simply OUTSTANDING! The essays are divided into three sections […]
The Finally Impenitent
“The finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost.” The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene includes these ominous words. The phrase “the finally impenitent” was in use prior to the denomination’s beginning. And other Christian groups currently include these words in their belief […]
John Wesley’s View of Scripture
Both conservative and progressive Christians admire John Wesley. But his statements on the Bible may surprise people in both camps. I’m offering a free copy of Randy Maddox’s essay on John Wesley and the Bible. The essay was published in a book I co-edited with Richard Thompson, The Bible Tells Me […]
What Forgiveness Is
In my previous essay, I talked about what forgiveness is not. Now let me talk about what it is. As I write this, I’m aware that I can’t cover all topics related to forgiveness. And I’m aware that I speak primarily from my own experience, aided by my interpretation of the wisdom found in Scripture […]
What Forgiveness Is Not
A series of painful events in my life have me pondering anew the meaning of forgiveness. Family and friends have also asked for help as they struggle to forgive those who hurt them. I want to share some ideas I’ve found helpful in my own efforts to forgive in the midst of pain. An impressive […]
My Response to NNU Announcements
With the recent Northwest Nazarene University announcements from the Board of Trustees and the report from the team assigned to review recent layoffs, I thought it would be wise to make a statement in response. I made a video response. Click the black rectangle “Statement from Thomas Jay Oord” to […]
We Should Expect Diversity in Holiness
In previous blogs, I’ve mentioned nine dominant themes present in the new book of essays, Renovating Holiness. The final dominant theme in the book is the most frequently mentioned in the essays, so I list it as the most dominant theme overall. The Renovating Holiness book brought together 100+ […]
Three Key Themes in Contemporary Holiness
The new Renovating Holiness book is selling very well! My co-editor, Josh Broward, and I are excited to see the myriad of ways the book is sparking new conversations about what holiness might mean today. Renovating Holiness brings together 100+ Millennial and Xer leaders in the Church of the […]
3 Themes Young Holiness Leaders Care About
I’m happy to announce that a new book I have co-edited with Josh Broward is now available. Renovating Holiness brings together 120+ Millennial and Xer leaders in the Church of the Nazarene to explore holiness afresh. The book that results is nearly 500 pages long! We wanted to include as many voices […]